Pellicano faces more charges

P.I. back as co-defendant in Christensen case

The former Hollywood private eye returned to the downtown Los Angeles courthouse where he was convicted of 76 counts of wiretapping and racketeering in May.

He’s facing more wiretapping and conspiracy charges, this time in a trial in which lawyer Terry Christensen is also a defendant. Christensen allegedly used the P.I. to record the phone calls of Lisa Bonder Kerkorian, the ex-wife of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, who was seeking up to $320,000 per month in child support for her 4-year-old daughter. The Kerkorians’ marriage lasted 28 days and began a year after Lisa Bonder Kerkorian gave birth to the daughter.

Calls between Lisa Bonder’s lawyers that were recorded during the 2002 child-support battle revealed the attorneys’ strategy during her deposition as well as her settlement proposals.

Christensen, who worked for former MGM topper Kerkorian, is said to have paid Pellicano $100,000 to provide the lawyer with the recordings and try to identify the daughter’s biological father, the federal government said. Christensen has pleaded not guilty.

However, the government plans to play 34 recordings that were seized during a raid of Pellicano’s former offices on Sunset Boulevard to prove Christensen’s involvement with the P.I.

The trial is expected to last four weeks. Jury selection began Wednesday.

Pellicano still awaits sentencing after being found guilty in the 10-week trial that ended in May, with that court date scheduled for Sept. 24.